After seeing the first installment in the prequel series to the classic Planet of the Ape movies, I had faith that Hollywood could still tell a meaningful story while rebooting its classic blockbusters. Rise of the Planet of the Apes made “creature” features cool again with its smart script and underlying metaphorical messages. This paired with the genius of James Franco (Spring Breakers) and Andy Serkis (The Hobbit) and my expectations for its predecessor were through the rough. Throw in a strong up and coming director, Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) and I was sold.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was one of the smartest and most unique sequels I have ever seen. First, it threw aside the star power of Franco and stayed true to the goodbye Caesar (Serkis) says to him at the end of Rise, making Caesar the center of Dawn. This means that besides Ryan Gosling’s character in Drive, our protagonist creates an emotional connection with the audience without even speaking for a majority of the movie. Second, the script was intelligently written in a way that has been referred to by the writers as “science-fact” instead of science fiction. This means that even though the chances of apes taking over the earth is very slim (at this point of existence), the evolution of the trilogy is thought out in a way that makes logical sense.

Add in epic action sequences with parallels between how humans treat each other like animals and this is the best sci-fi blockbuster of the year. Now I just hope my Full Metal Jacket theory comes true in the third part of the series.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpSaTrW4leg]

First James Franco, now Gary Oldman! How are they going to top these casting choices in the third Planet of the Apes?

Gary Oldman? I can’t think of anyone better on my side in a fight against genetically modified apes! Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises) has signed on to the cast for the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The film is set 15 years after the outbreak seen in Rise, where Oldman plays Dreyfus, the leader of a human colony trying to survive. There also seems to be trouble amongst the ape civilization.

Dawn is still in the stages of pre-production and has already got the actors Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) and Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty), who are presumably amongst those struggling with the reign of those darn monkeys.

The film is aiming to be released in May 2014, with Matt Reeves (director, Let Me In) at the helm. With the re-vamping of the originals that have spanned from the 60’s, 70’s and 00’s, the franchise will undoubtedly have a following. With Gary Oldman fighting the (good?) fight, there will undoubtedly be a fan base heading to the cinema, and I unashamedly will be one of them.